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43-/ 

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Class _ 


L L i34 


Book. 







r S M REMARKS 



OP 



v 

HON. GfPORTER, OF MISSOURI, 



ON THE 



ORGANIZATION OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, 






DELIVER!!!) ON THE 9TH OF J \%' I I 



WASHINGTON ! 

. i i.[. \ i' PHE C INGRESSIONAL GLO ■'<'■ 01 PICE. 
1856 



ORGANIZATION OF THE HOUSE 



"Wliil. the Clerk was calling the roll on the 
ninety-ninth vote for Spi aker, 

Mr. PORTER said: Before recording my vote 
I have a few remarks to make. I have been 

! heretofore Eo remain a silent member of 
this body. I havuhad no personal explanations 
to make, no remarks to offer in n fereRce to any 
matter personal tc» myself. Bui, sir, allusion 
having been made to nn- in the course of this fflci- 
dental discussion . that lias sprung up during our 
nt sitting, it may have become necessary 
that I should make a few remarks for the pur- 
pose of defining my position, or rather for the 
purpose of presenting some reasons why 1 shall 
eoniinue to vote as 1 have heretofore voted for 
d friend from Pennsylvania, [Mr. 
Pi i i.kr.] 
My acquaintance with that distin 

n originated during the Thirty-Second Con J 
. of which 1 had the honor t" be a member 
with him. I found him at that time cooperating 
with me as a membefof the great patriotic Whig 
party, of which my colleague who last addressed 
House [Mr. Cardtherb] was a member, 
and with whicl I tod from my boyhood 

down to the present time. I id the 

gentleman from Pennsylvania then a Whig mem- 
. -in the B -e— a Fillmore Whig, 

u toe in the meas- 

ures of Fillmor ' tration— a conservative 

\\ • tnding by the < ipromisc n 

. in tlieir length and in their breadth. And, 
sir, it" he '. ' his opinions u] ho sub- 

ject — if he has departed from that great ai d 
r .-faith — from t!io.;. principles wliich wi then 



supported in common— I have not learned the 
fact. When I met him again, I recognized him as 
standing upon the compromise measures of 1850 
— those measures adopted undt t the had and sup- 
ported by the eloquence ojf the immortal sta< 
man of Kentucky, to whom my worthy Ci 
[Mr. Caruthers] has so eloquently referred. 
Elected here, sir, as a Whig, professing the prin- 
ciples of the .Whig panty, 1 felt called upon, in 
my choice for Speaker, to vote as nearly as I 
could in accordance with the principles of that 
party; and in casting about me to asci Main f< r 
whom I should vote — to see who would comi 
neai' st iii his position to th/' principles which 1 
profes6ed-rI recognized the distinguished 
th man from K< ntuck v. j M r. EIuMPHREI MaR- 
mim.i.,1 and the distinguished gentleman for 
whom ' bave he,-n voting for the last eighty or 
ninety votes for Speaker, as the friends and sup- 
port* r.- of Whigprinciples and measures. I ''" ,; I 
them in the Thirty-Second Congress, stand 
upon the true national platfprm so far as the com- 
promise measures of 1850 were concerned, con- 
mi nt, 
in principle and . ' of the slav< ry qui 8- 

tioii in the States and T< rritorii . • - wi II as for 
internal improvements and the "tier wise and 

• rvative measures of \\ hich the Whig party 
were the ad\ ocati s. tinder thes no s, 

1 fell myai If justified in casting my voU a for t 
gcntlqm cn i "'"I ' did i ;•'• Bui 

been in tuna ted, that perhaps the distinguisl I 

■ man from Pennsylvania may not i i 

sound position upon the important question on 
\<, hich tie , le of mj 



district feel so deep an interest— the slavery ques- I 

Ffow, Mr. Clerk, I care not what position that : 
. .t any gentleman lure, may Wave oc- |j 
cupind during the last Congress in regard to the |j 
J of the Missouri compromise as a part and 
I of the Kansas and Nebraska bill. It is well i 
known to the country that a great many most • 
distinguished and patriotic statesmen, belonging' 
to both the great parties of the country — the : 
Whig and the Democratic party— believed that 
the repeal of the Missouri compromise was an jj 
injudicious measure; that it was not demanded 
by public opinion, as uttered through the public 
ss, by the Legislative Assemblies in any of 1 
the Suites, or by the people in their primary as- 
B ... lies, or otherwise ; that it was calculated to j 
violate an important principle of both the two 
great parties, as declared by their platforms laid . 
down at their Baltimore conventions of 1852, 
.. - :h was. that the slavery agitation should be I 
finally settled by the compromise measures of 
13.1 . and that it should not be reopened there- \ 
<■■ fu •;• in Congress or out of it, under any pretense "■ 
whatever. Sir, they were opposed to the repeal 
of the eighth section of the •' Missouri conipru- 
act," whieh was made part and parcel of 
the Kansas and Nebraska biii, passed during the 
last Congress. 

A bill to organize the Territory of iXebrr.ska, ) 
modeled after the Utah and New Mexico bills of j 
1350, v. as introduced, during the Thirty-Second 
_: ss, by my then colleague from the St. [ 
h district, [Mr. Hall,] passed this body, 
and received here and, in the Senate the sanction i 
and support of t'iie entire delegation from Missouri. 
i ..t. that the opinion that the unexpected and 

uncalled-for. effort to repeal the ' ; Missouri com- 
promise" would revive the slavery agitation with 
renewed fierceness, which I honestly entertain d 
frankly expressed, -was held and expressed 
guished national Bl both 

■, among them the distinguished 
i r from Michigan, [Mr. Cass.] It will be 
seen, by referring to the speech made by him 
e'uri::LC the pendency of the Kansas and Nebr . 
-.-, that he expressed his il 

should have been made to r 

I the 
time that it was passed, it gave peace and quiet 
to the country; and that all useful and beneficial 

^!:ed without its 
! • fer to that speech, for I well re- 

er it. 1 le uses this langua 

'• Mr. Presid i:t, 1 have not withheld i in of 

u., . _ , nor shall I withhold . .: this . 



question of repeal of the Missouri compromise, whieh 
op. -us nil the disputed points connected with the subject of 
congressional action upon slavery in tiie Territories of the 
United States, has been brought before us. I do not think 
the practical advantages to result from the measure will 
outweigh the injury which tin- ill-feeling fated toaceompany 
tie- discussion o; tins subject through the country, is sure 
to produce. And I was confirmed in this impression from 
what was said by the S mater from Tennesse s, [Mr. Jones,] 
by the Senators from Kentucky, [Mr. Dixon,] and from 
North Carolina, [Mr. Badger,] and also by the remarks 
which fill from the Senator from Vriginia, [Mr. Hunter.] 
and in which I fully concur, that the South will never re- 
ceive any benefit from this measure, so far as respects the 
extension of slavery for legislate as we may. no human 
power can establish it in the regions defined by these bill?. 
And such were tiie sentiments of two eminent patriots to 
whose exertions we are greatly indebted rfactory 

termination or' the difficulties of 1850, ami who have since 
. from their labors, audi trust to their reward. Thus 
belicvhig, 1 should have been b 'tier content had the whole 
subject been left as it was by the lrill when fust introduced 
by the Senator from Illinois, without any provision re^arj- 
ing the Missouri compromise. 1 am aware that it was re- 
port e that I intended to propose the repeal of that measure, 
but i: was an error. My intentions were wholly misunder- 
stood. I had no design whatever to tak'. such a step, and 
thus resuscitate a deed of conciliation which had done its 
» i i.k. and done it well, and which was hallowed by patriot- 
ism, by success, and by its association with great nam s 
now transient d to history. It belonged to a past genera- 
tion; and in the midst of a political tempest which appall d 
tie' wisest and tinner t in tiie land, it had said to the waves 
of agitation. Peace, le still, and they became still. It would 
hive been better in my opinion not to disturb its slumber, 
as aii useral and practical objects could have b -en ai: 
Without it. But the question is here without my agency. " 
i i February '20, 1S.'A. 

When I saw it, though I differed from that 
distinguished gentleman on many questions of 
public policy, 1 yielded my hearty assent to the 
views which he. expressed, and, in the canvass 
which resulted in my election, declared them to 
be sentiments worthy of a patriot and a states- 
man. 1 was for standing by the compromise of 
l^oU as a "final settlement" of the slavery ques- 
tion, and opposed to taking any step that would, 
in its nature and consequences, have tiie effect of 
reviving the slavery agitation. It was predict- d 
that the repeal of the Missouri compromise would 
have the effect of reopening the slavery agitation, 
as such procedure was in violation of the plat- 
form of the Whig party, to which I belong, and 
of the Democratic party, and was entirely .un- 
ssary for any practical or useful end what- 
ever. 

The CLERK. The gentleman's time has ex- 
pired, [('lies of "Go on!"] If there is no 
lion, the gentleman will proceed with his 
remarks; 

There was no objection. 

Mr. PORTER. Mr. derfc, I was decided in 
the expression of my opinion on the subject at 

the time the first movement was made in the 
Senate of the United States, during the pendency 



of the Kansas-Nebraska bill. I believe that 
Judge Don.i.AS took thi tru • ground in his first 
report. It was that of opposition to introducing 
any new prim :i -.1 to territorial < 

i tibn, and a firm adherence to the principles 
1 by the compromise measures of 1850. 
I believe the principle s of that report are <torre"ct, 
but that the departure fri m :! se principles, by 
the P atirrc v. ' i t to in i. rmedtlle with or 

disturb the legislation of 1 i '. -. as 1 Baid, 
injn I d uncalled f public senti- 

ment at the South; that k was unexpected by 
tin- p ( ople everywhere 1 , and calculated, in its Very 
nature and in u the 

tn, and c!i» a thousand-fold 
mi* bief than the repeal of the restriction would 
do l;ooJ to any section, North or South. 

But that 1 til was introduced and passed by 
the Seni te, with the repeal of the Missouri coin- 
promise in it. It carme to this body. If I recol- 
lect right, mend- ' 
'-. I ill was virtually denied by tb 
parliamentary I to i:i the House. 
If 1 had been A i , and had had the oppor- 

-. 1 would have proposed the am&ndmi 
the bill, so as to make its provisions conform to ■ 
< a Mexi :o acts — as it did when 
first reported in the Senati — so that it would 
have bi en silent on the question of the existence 
or :ioi!-e\ slavery 1 therein bylaw; leav- 

j ing, to use the I fthe last message of the 

President oft!. ; -, "th* dormant 

" ; s it was left by our fathers 
of 182 . ; whom was the illustrious and 

lament! A Clay, whom my eloquent coll 
[Mr. Caruthers] so properly characterizes as 
Whig party. If I luid : 
railed to have the provisions of the I > i 1 1 conform 
to those of the Utah and X. w Mexico l>i!!, I 

Id have voted for the Kansas-Nebraska bill, ' 
notwithstanding what I regarded to be an inex- 
pedient and objectionable feature in it; because 
n man, interested in the prosperity of 

try, I 
fi it that the speedy organization of those Terri- 
tori: s, lyingon o i, wasa matter 

of strict fustice to Mi tterwhich 

nd ad- 
i not only on Mi 9 iuri, Arl 

I -. . i the entire tier of v,-< 
on the entire Union — especially in \ 

had a direct and m tessary conm 
the succi 
tlv "Ci oad," then project) d, 

an:! ■ i th n ex- 

citing the attention of our ablest statesmen, of 



the American people, and of the Government of 
the United Stat 

On the same principle that I opposed tb 
opening of the slavery agitation, which unhappily 
took place on th bras- 

ka bill from the cause above adv i me of 

the bitter fruits of which we are at thi 
ing, 1 would now oppose a I tn amfend, 

or modify, or change the Kansas and N ■' 
art. 1 am i Ito slavery agitation. I bi lievd 

it to be the greatest and most portentous evil of out 

'■lie. I believe it to be one of the most fruit- 
ful sources of mischief to our common cce 
and of danger to our glorious Union. 1 am there- 
fore opposed, as is my honorable friend from 
Pennsylvania, [Mr. Fn.i.r.R.] to any attempt to 

/ or eh mge that bill, and thus revive, as 
might be the case, and increase, to an indefinite 
tion of the slavery question. In 
the sentiments i xpressed by the dieting! 
gentleman from Pennsylvania [Mr. JKcuxk] I 
fully and cordially concur, to the extent of i 
sition to slavery agitation; and, like him, 1 would 
vote against the restoration of the Missouri 
promise restriction. 

That is the position of the gentleman from Penn- 
sylvania, as he publicly and solemnly avows 
it. While originally opposed in good fail 
the repeal of the Missouri compromise restric- 
tion, like the distinguish) d S mator I have quoted, 
and many other bold and true and conservative 
statesmen 4 whose speeches I could quote if lima 
allowed, — like them, he is opposed to an} 
to reinstate that compromise. Let the legislation 
of 1854 stand, as the legislation of 1820 and 185 I 
ought to have stood, for weal or for woe. Let 
the bitter sectional strife which now rages in 
our country, and manif. sis itself in the hails of 
legislation, to the impediment of the public busi- 
ness and the reproach of our free institutions, bo 
allayed. Let peace' once more be restored t<> our 
borders, as it was prior to the legislation of 1 354, 
And when it is restored, sir, let a monument, like 
that of the fabled god "Terminus," be erected 

ice, between the two f the 

Union, •• never to be thrown down !" Let there 

revii al or increase of 
Let t an eternal ween the 1 

members of our great American familj 
This is what th n from Pem 

[my friend Mr. Poller,] in >•}»• 

quently and feelingly says» 1 care not what bis 
may have been. He may bav< 

d to the repeal of the Missouri 
that is a thing now number 
the things that were. What Stat \ • to 



6 



do with, and what it behooves them to attend to, 
is the present and the future. I believe him to be 
an honorable and a reliable man — a man who 
will stand firmly to his avowed principles. When 
he tells me that if a bill were introduced lor the 
restoration of the Missouri compromise, he would 
vote against it because he is opposed to reviving 
or continuing the slavery agitation, then I can 
say to him, that for all practical purposes, he and 
I, as well as he and my worthy colleagues, are 
together on that subject. lam opposed to any 
agitation for a restoration of the Missouri com- 
promise; and we are practically, therefore, upon 
the same ground, so far as that is concerned. 
The gentleman may have regretted, as I regretted, 
the movement that resulted in the repeal of that 
measure, which had the sanction of the illus- 
trious Clay and of the great men of the South 
in 1820, and that restored peace to a distracted 
country, and saved the Union, (as was then be- 
lieved by the great men of the South,) which 
was imperiled by the slavery agitation of that 
period. 

But, Mr. Clerk, the great practical question at 
last in regard to the Kansas-Nebraska bill is this: 
in a very short time, probably before another 
Congress shall be elected and convened, Kansas 
will have the requisite population to entitle her 
to admission into this Union. The gentleman 
from Pennsylvania declares that he would admit 
her into the Union without regard to the ques- 
tion whether she has slavery in her constitution 
or not. Upon that great practical issue — the only 
practical one, I submit to this House, involved 
in this Kansas-Nebraska question — my colleague 
[Mr. Caruthers] himself admits that the gen- 
tleman from Pennsylvania occupies sound and 
proper ground, and he " thanks aim" for declar- 
ing himself in favor of that great republican prin- 
ciple which is dear to me, as it ought to be dear 
to every friend of the Union. Then, for all prac- 
tical purposes, although a northern man, like the 
distinguished gentleman from Illinois, [Mr. Rich- 
ardson-,] he stands upon the broad basis of the 
Constitution, guarantying to all the Territories 
of this Union the riyht to come into the Union 
when they have the requisite population, Upon 
the simple condition that they have republican 
constitutions, and apply for admission with such 
constitutions, without regard to whether they 
have one kind of domestic institutions or an- 
other, that being a question to lie settled by the 
people of i he Territory and by them alone. As 
the gentleman from Pennsylvania stands upon 
that ureal principle., and is as sound upon that 
qui stion as any other member upon this floor, I 



should consider that I was acting ungratefully to 
him, and unjustly to my own section, if I were to 
withhold my support from him because, in some 
of his opinions and views in regard to the ab- 
stract question of slavery, he differed from my- 
self or from a majority of the people of my sec- 
tion. I should consider that I was dealing most 
unjustly by him and by that section. He is 
entitled to credit and gratitude instead of being 
censured for daring, in the face of any fanatical 
prejudice that may exist, if any, in his own dis- 
trict, in relation to slavery, to come up boldly and 
manfully and take his stand in favor of the con- 
stitutional rights of the South involved in this 
question. And, sir, after the gentleman from 
Pennsylvania made this frank and manly declara- 
tion of his principles — that declaration which, for 
all practical purposes, placed him on ground as 
high, as reliable and tenable as is occupied by 
any southern Representative upon this floor — the 
organ of the Administration, to which I stand 
opposed upon this floor, the Washington Union, 
indorsed the gentleman's doctrines, and pro- 
nounced him, in substance, sound upon the ques- 
tion of the Kansas-Nebraska bill. 

Sir, as was very properly said by one of my 
colleagues, who first addressed the House, [Mr. 
Kennett,] I have no unfriendly feeling towards 
the distinguished gentleman who is the nominee 
of the Democrats. He is my neighbor, and a 
nearer neighbor to me than he is to my colleague. 
I know hina well. I had the honor of serving with 
him in the Thirty-Second Congress. I esteem him 
as a gentleman and a statesman of large and liberal 
views. He is a western man in his sentiments 
and principles; and, if I am correctly informed in 
regard to his former course, is in favor of that great 
Whig measure — the improvement of rivers and 
harbors by the General Government. He stands 
upon the same ground as Mr. Fuller upon that 
question. If I felt at liberty to choose a Speaker 
out of the Democratic party, I should prefer him 
to any other Democrat upon this floor; but in many 
vie ws of public policy I differ with that gentle- 
man, lie is a supporter of this Administration, 
and was put forward as such, as I understand. 
I was elected to this House as a national Whig, 
and as an opponent of t lie present Administration 
of the Federal Government. Then, sir, how can 
I, consistently with my duty to my constituents 
who sent me here as the Representative of a dis- 
trict which is strongly Whig— having a Whig 
majority of from s sven hundred to one thousand, 
and myself elected by some twelve hundred and 
eighty majority against a distinguished Adminis- 
tration Democrat — how could I, in justice to my- 



self and to my constituents, and aa a true and just 
man, come here and cast my vote, from first to 
last, for the candidate of the Administration party 
upon this floor? 

Under certain circumstances, I might be in- 
duced to vote for the gentleman from Illinois. I 
i rote for him in opposition to a man who is 
opposed to tlic admission of Kansas into the 
Union with a constitution recognizing slavery if 
she chooses to form such a constitution; I might 
do it in opposition to a man in favor of contin- 
uing the agitation of the slavery question for the 
purpose of restoring the Missouri compromise. 
I might vote for him in opposition to a man hold- 
ing those views and sentiments. I might have 
vote,!, and would cheerfully have voted for the 
gentleman from Illinois iii such an alternative, if 
I had been reduced to that alternative, but I have 
not yet been reduced to it. When my colleague, 
or any oiler gentleman, can demonstrate to me 
that I can defeat Mr. Banks, or any nominee of 
the Republican caucus entertaining similar views, 
I will as chei rfully as any man upon this floor 
vote for Mr. Richardson for the purpose of de- 
feating a man entertaining those views and senti- 
ments, because I belii ve thi m to be in violation 
of the Constitution of my country, of the peace 
of the States, and of all the interests we ought to 
hold mostdear. But thai alternative is not before 
us. All the votes which the friends of Mr. Fil- 
ler nowvoting for him, as all of us know, could 
cast for Mr. Richardson would ngt elect him, 
and, thi refore, in voting for him now, or at any 
time Bince we met, I should simply be placing 
ntys. If in the attitude of coming here as a Whig, 
and an opponent of the Administration — elected 
as such in August, 1854 — and casting my vote 
without attaining any practical end for a Demo- 
crat and a supporter of the Administration. 1 do 
not choose to involve myself in such an inconsist- 
ency as that. And I know my generous and 
htencd constituents do not expect, and would 
not BBk ni" to do it. That is my justification, 
and I consider it a full and complete justification 
in regard to my course upon this matter. 

Gentlemen have said that the Whig party, as a 
party, is dead. It may be 80 in some localities, 



but I assure gentlemen that the Whig party of the 
Smte which I have the honor, in part, to repre- 
sent, has not hauled down its time-honored and 
glorious fla^ r — that flag which, in times past, has 
been borne aloft by a host of illustrious statesmen 
who from time to time have' abed luster on our 
annals. I say that flag is not pulled down, but is 
yet floating in the breeze, and so long as 1 find it 
floating, with the great national, patriotic, con- 
servative principles of the Whigs of 1840, '44, 
'48, and '.~r2 inscribed upon it, though sonic of its 
stars may be "erased, "and some of its "stripes" 
be •' polluted, "I shall still be found rallying under 
its " ample folds." 

But, Mr. Clerk, whatever change may take 
place in its organization, however many may 
prove recreant to the organization or principles 
of that party, the great principles and measures 
of that party still remain and "still live," and I 
trust will live forever; for, sir, they are sacred 
to the cause of constitutional freedom, and the 
purity and success of our representative system 
of Government. In casting my suffrage for aspir- 
ants for political station, who have control of 
political power here or elsewhere, I shall cast it 
for those who most strongly and most sincerely 
believe in, and faithfully practice, the doctrines 
and principles of the Whig party. In pursuance 
of that determination, I have cast my votes for 
the distinguished gentleman from Pennsylvania 
as an advocate of those principles and doc- 
trines — as one who is still true to them in their 
whole length and breadth. I shall cast my vote 
for him, because I know him to be an able, an 
honorable man, and one competent for the posi- 
tion to which I desire to see him elected. • 

I have said, Mr. Clerk, all I intend, d to say in 
explanation of the course which I have talon. I 
vote for Mr. Fuller, because his position on the 
slavery question is sound, national, and conserva- 
tive; becaui e he is a Whig in his principles, and 
views of public policy; and I vote against Mr. 
Richardson because he is a Democrat a warm 
supporter of the present Administration, and be- 
cause some of his views and principles of publie 
policy, as well as bis party affinities, differ from 
my own. 



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